Confidentiality management of e-mail users in redistributed e-mail messages

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to instant messaging and provide a novel and non-obvious method, system and computer program product for managing e-mail user confidentiality. In one embodiment of the invention, a method for managing e-mail user confidentiality can be provided. The method can include transmitting an e-mail message for delivery to multiple e-mail users and corresponding e-mail addresses, identifying a privacy preference for a particular one of the e-mail users; and, concealing a display within the e-mail message of an e-mail address associated with the particular one of the e-mail users responsive to the privacy preference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of electronic messaging andmore particularly to managing e-mail address confidentiality in ane-mail message.

Description of the Related Art

A variety of electronic messaging systems have arisen which range fromreal-time instant messaging systems and wireless text pagers toasynchronous electronic mail systems. Electronic mail, a form ofelectronic messaging referred to in the art as e-mail, has proven to bethe most widely used computing application globally. Though e-mail hasbeen a commercial staple for several decades, due to the explosivepopularity and global connectivity of the Internet, e-mail has becomethe preferred mode of communications, regardless of the geographicseparation of communicating parties.

E-mail applications allow users to compose and send e-mail to differentusers, in addition to forwarding e-mails that have been received toother designated recipients. It is common for e-mails to beredistributed several times to many different recipients. As such, theremay be times when a user intends to conceal the e-mail address of thesender but not the content of a message when forwarding an e-mail.Likewise, a recipient of a mass-distributed e-mail may not find comfortin others viewing the e-mail address of the recipient in the addressablefields of the mass-distributed e-mail—especially when the others are notknown personally to the recipient.

Conventional methods of concealing the identity of an e-mail addresseeinclude protecting the identity of the sender by manually removing theoriginal name of the sender and e-mail address of the sender from thebody of the e-mail before redistributing the e-mail. Also, to protectthe identity of the recipient, every e-mail address for a correspondingrecipient can be manually placed in the blind carbon copy (BCC) addressfield instead of the “TO” field. Still, conventional concealment methodsplace the fate of the identity protection of a designated recipient inthe hands of the sender.

Consequently, if the sender chooses not to respect the privacy of adesignated recipient in connection with an e-mail message, then theidentity of the designated recipient will be revealed to all recipientsof the e-mail message. Thus, the original sender and the potentialrecipients of a redistributed e-mail have no control over identityprotection. Further, though users enjoy the option of manually deletingor hiding e-mail addresses, current methods of redistributing e-mailsand protecting identities of users can most times be manually cumbersomesince there is no automated process of pro-actively preventing exposureof user e-mails in a redistributed e-mail.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art inrespect to real-time instant messaging and provide a novel andnon-obvious method, system and computer program product for managinge-mail user confidentiality. In one embodiment of the invention, amethod for e-mail user confidentiality management can be provided. Themethod can include transmitting an e-mail message for delivery tomultiple e-mail users and corresponding e-mail addresses, identifying aprivacy preference for a particular one of the e-mail users andconcealing within the e-mail message a display of an e-mail addressassociated with the particular one of the e-mail users responsive to theprivacy preference.

In one aspect of the embodiment, transmitting an e-mail message fordelivery to multiple e-mail users and corresponding e-mail addresses caninclude composing an e-mail message, retrieving an e-mail address foreach of the e-mail users from a directory, populating an address fieldof the e-mail message with the e-mail addresses, and routing the e-mailmessage to the e-mail users. Alternatively, transmitting an e-mailmessage for delivery to multiple e-mail users and corresponding e-mailaddresses can include selecting a previously received e-mail message,retrieving an e-mail address for each of a plurality of e-mail usersfrom a directory, populating an address field of a forwarded form of thepreviously received e-mail message with the retrieved e-mail addresses,and routing the forwarded form of the previously received e-mail messageto the e-mail users.

In another aspect of the embodiment, identifying a privacy preferencefor a particular one of the e-mail users can include looking up aprivacy preference for the particular one of the e-mail users in adirectory of e-mail users and corresponding e-mail addresses. In yetanother aspect of the embodiment, identifying a privacy preference for aparticular one of the e-mail users further can include comparing thee-mail users designated for the e-mail message with members of a socialnetwork of the particular one of the e-mail users, and determining aprivacy preference based upon a threshold number of the e-mail usersalso belonging to the social network. Finally, in even yet a furtheraspect of the embodiment, identifying a privacy preference for aparticular one of the e-mail users further can include comparing thee-mail users designated for the e-mail message with e-mail users in alist, for example a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP)directory or an instant messaging (IM) buddy list. Thereafter, a privacypreference can be determined based upon a threshold number of the e-mailusers appearing in the list.

In another embodiment of the invention, a system for managing e-mailuser confidentiality can be provided. The system can include a messagingclient, a directory of e-mail users and corresponding e-mail addresses,and a confidentiality processor coupled to the messaging client. Theconfidentiality processor can be programmed to respond to a request totransmit an e-mail message for delivery to multiple e-mail users, toidentify a privacy preference for a particular one of the e-mail usersin the directory of e-mail users, and to conceal a display of an e-mailaddress associated with the particular one of the e-mail usersresponsive to the privacy preference.

In another aspect of the embodiment, designating an e-mail message fordelivery to multiple e-mail users and corresponding e-mail addresses caninclude composing or redistributing an e-mail message and populating anaddress field with e-mail addresses from a directory of e-mail users andcorresponding e-mail addresses.

In yet another aspect of the embodiment, identifying a privacypreference for a particular e-mail user can include looking up thatparticular user's e-mail address in a directory of e-mail users andcorresponding e-mail addresses, and optionally determining thatparticular user's social network, and establishing a rule to govern theprivacy preference for that particular e-mail user

In another aspect of the embodiment, a system for managingconfidentiality of an e-mail user can be provided. The system caninclude a messaging client, a directory of e-mail users andcorresponding e-mail addresses, and a confidentiality processor coupledto the messaging client and programmed to respond to a request todesignate an e-mail message for delivery to multiple e-mail users,identify a privacy preference for each e-mail user from the directory ofe-mail users, and conceal the display of an e-mail address associatedwith an e-mail user responsive to the privacy preference.

Additional aspects of the invention will be set forth in part in thedescription which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The aspectsof the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elementsand combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It isto be understood that both the foregoing general description and thefollowing detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only andare not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute partof this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention. The embodiments illustrated herein are presently preferred,it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to theprecise arrangements and instrumentalities shown, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an e-mail messaging dataprocessing system configured for e-mail address confidentialitymanagement; and

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a process for managing e-mail addressconfidentiality in the e-mail messaging data processing system of FIG.1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, system andcomputer program product for e-mail address confidentiality management.In accordance an embodiment of the invention, a set of e-mail clients ina messaging network can be configured to process e-mail addressconfidentiality for a particular e-mail user. Specifically, theconfidentiality processor can specify a set of designated e-mail usersfor an associated e-mail message and the privacy preferences afforded tothose particular e-mail users in transmitting the associated e-mailmessage. As such, when the e-mail message is received by a designatedrecipient, the display of e-mail addresses associated with thoseparticular e-mail users can be concealed by the messaging client.

In further illustration, FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an e-mailmanagement data processing system configured for e-mail addressconfidentiality management. The system can include a host platform 110coupled to one or more client computing devices 120 over datacommunications network 130. The host platform 110 can support theoperation of an e-mail messaging client 140 programmed to create, edit,transmit and receive electronic messages 150 including e-mail messages.Likewise, each of the client computing devices 120 can support an e-mailmessaging client 140 configured to create, edit, transmit and receiveelectronic messages 150 including e-mail over the data communicationsnetwork 130.

Importantly, each of the e-mail messaging clients 140 can be coupled toa confidentiality processor 170. The confidentiality processor 170 caninclude program code enabled to process privacy preferences 160associated with the electronic messages 150. Each of the privacypreferences 160 can specify a designated sender and one or morerecipients for an electronic message 150. Each of the privacypreferences 160 further can specify a set of limitations pertaining tothe ability of an e-mail user to conceal their own e-mail address in anelectronic message 150. The privacy preferences 160 can be stored in adirectory 180 and stored in association with e-mail addresses with eachbeing associated with a particular e-mail user. For example, thedirectory 180 can include an address book, an enterprise LDAP directory,or an IM buddy list.

The limitations of the privacy preferences 160 can provide rules todetermine whether or not to conceal the e-mail address of either asender or a receiver of the electronic message 150. The rules caninclude, for example, rules determining confidentiality based upon anexpress preference for confidentiality for a designated recipient of theelectronic message 150, whether a subsequent forwarder of the electronicmessage 150 has a particular identity, whether a threshold number ofdesignated recipients of the electronic message 150 belong to a socialnetwork in common with the sender or receiver of associated with thee-mail address, or when the electronic message 150 is forwarded to anadditional number of designated recipients, whether a threshold numberof designated recipients of the electronic message 150 belong to asocial network in common with the sender or receiver associated with thee-mail address.

In operation, the program code of the confidentiality processor 140 canbe enabled upon receiving an electronic message 150 to consult thedirectory 180 when determining whether or not to conceal a display of aparticular e-mail address for a corresponding designated recipient ofthe electronic message 150. The program code of the confidentialityprocessor 140 can base the determination upon a privacy preference foundin the directory 180 for either the sender of the electronic message 150or one or more of the designated recipients of the electronic message150. If a determination is made to conceal an e-mail address, the e-mailaddress can be placed in the BCC field of the message. Alternatively, toconceal an e-mail address, the e-mail address can be removed entirelyfrom the electronic message 150 and a copy of the electronic message canbe separately sent to the concealed e-mail address so as to maintain theconfidentiality of the e-mail address.

As an example, a particular e-mail user can set a default privacysetting in the e-mail client that will specify to the confidentialityprocessor 170 that all outgoing e-mail for that particular e-mail usershould not be included in the body of the e-mail if the e-mail isredistributed. Additionally, the author can specify at the time that ane-mail is created that the author's e-mail address should be concealedin the body of the e-mail if the e-mail is eventually redistributed.This can be specified on the author's e-mail client through a userinterface. Further, if a recipient receives an e-mail and decides toforward the e-mail, the act of forwarding could prompt theconfidentiality processor to scan the e-mail and remove the author'se-mail address from the body of the e-mail. Moreover, rules to governthe concealment process can include prompting the confidentialityprocessor to conceal an e-mail user's e-mail address if one a certainpercentage of the new recipients are not in the author's social network,if the sender is not in the author's social network, or if one or moreof the original recipients was specified by the author as not being ableto redistribute the author's e-mail address in the body of the e-mail.

In more general illustration of the process of the invention, FIG. 2 isa flow chart illustrating a process for managing confidentiality of ane-mail user. Beginning in block 210, an e-mail message that has beencomposed or received from another e-mail user can be addressed tomultiple e-mail users (user[1], user[2], user[n] . . . ) fordistribution placed in an address field. Next in block 220 each user'sprivacy preference can be checked and confirmed. In decision block 230if that particular user's privacy preference is set to private, then inblock 240 that particular user's e-mail address can be concealed in anumber of ways mentioned in FIG. 1 discussion. If that particular user'sprivacy preference is set to public, then in block 250 that particulare-mail address can be displayed. Finally in block 260 the e-mail messagecan be transmitted while preserving the confidentiality of e-mail usersthat have requested to remain private.

Embodiments of the invention can take the form of an entirely hardwareembodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containingboth hardware and software elements. In a preferred embodiment, theinvention is implemented in software, which includes but is not limitedto firmware, resident software, microcode, and the like. Furthermore,the invention can take the form of a computer program product accessiblefrom a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing programcode for use by or in connection with a computer or any instructionexecution system.

For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computerreadable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or apropagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include asemiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computerdiskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), arigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of opticaldisks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compactdisk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.

A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing programcode will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectlyto memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can includelocal memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulkstorage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at leastsome program code in order to reduce the number of times code must beretrieved from bulk storage during execution. Input/output or I/Odevices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointingdevices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or throughintervening I/O controllers. Network adapters may also be coupled to thesystem to enable the data processing system to become coupled to otherdata processing systems or remote printers or storage devices throughintervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernetcards are just a few of the currently available types of networkadapters.

We claim:
 1. A method, performed within and by a client computer system,comprising: identifying a privacy preference, in association with ane-mail message to be transmitted to e-mail users having correspondinge-mail addresses, for a particular one of the e-mail users; andmodifying the e-mail message to be transmitted based upon the privacypreference; and addressing the modified e-mail message to the e-mailusers, wherein during a display, by a recipient of the e-mail message,of content of the e-mail message, an e-mail address, associated with theparticular one of the e-mail users, is not displayed based upon theprivacy preference, wherein each of the e-mail users is associated witha respective client computer system including an e-mail messaging clientwithin the respective client computer system, each of the respectiveclient computer systems includes a confidentiality processor coupled tothe e-mail messaging client within the respective client computersystem, and the confidentiality processor of the recipient uses theprivacy preference to determine whether or not to cause the display ofthe email address associated with the particular one of the e-mailusers.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the privacy preference is basedupon a threshold number of the e-mail users also belonging to a socialnetwork of the particular one of the e-mail users.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the privacy preference is based upon a threshold numberof the e-mail users appearing in a list.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the list is one of a lightweight directory access protocol(LDAP) directory, and an instant messaging (IM) buddy list.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the e-mail message is modified to completelyremove the email address associated with the particular one of thee-mail users, and a separate e-mail message copied from the e-mailmessage is sent, in lieu of the e-mail message, to the particular one ofthe e-mail users.